Daily roundup 23 November: Child poverty, Spending Review, and arrests

More 16- to 24-year-olds are living in poverty than people over the age of 65, a study has found. According to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the number of young people living in poverty has risen by 400,000 to 1.7m in the last decade. Over the same period, the number of over 65s in poverty has fallen by 600,000 to 1.4m.


Plans that focus on redressing school funding differences across England are expected to be outlined in the Spending Review. The BBC reports that Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne is likely to announce on Wednesday that the change will begin in 2017/18 after consulting on the details that could take place in next year.


The number of children in the west of England that have been arrested by police has fallen by more than two-thirds in the last four years, figures obtained by the Howard League for Penal Reform show. West Morning News reports the number of arrests of under-18s in Devon and Cornwall fell from 4,132 in 2010 to 1,470 in 2014, while in Avon and Somerset 7,255 arrests were made in 2010 compared to 2,342 in 2014.


?The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has urged police chiefs to tackle grooming reports more effectively. The BBC reports the call comes after the mother of murdered 14-year-old Breck Bednar, from Surrey, reported a change in behaviour to the police. An IPCC inquiry found the call should have alerted officers to the possibility he was being groomed.

?
A £10.4m “overspend” on children’s care placements is something that needs to be tackled, the interim director of children’s services (DCS) at Worcestershire County Council has said. The Worcester News reports new DCS Simon White also said he is intent on reducing case loads for children’s social workers.


Parents should not stay together for the sake of their children, young people who have experienced divorce have said. The Guardian reports a survey by family law organisation Resolution found 82 per cent of 514 young people aged 14 to 22 that have experienced family breakup would prefer their parents to separate if unhappy.